Last month, the American Homebrewers Association’s members showed they like their beers bitter and boozy, voting Russian River Brewing’s Pliny the Elder double IPA the “Best Commercial Beer in America” for the sixth year in a row, and going all the way for IPAs and imperial stouts in their Top 10.
The poll, conducted annually by Zymurgy magazine, neatly sums up the great divide in the beer drinking universe.
On one side, the craft beer geeks, who can’t get enough of ales brewed with loads of hops, hefty alcohol contents, exotic flavor additions, and techniques like barrel-aging.
On the other side, the beer majority, who consume most of planet earth’s beer supply and still demand adjunct lagers brewed with some combination of rice or corn.
The easiest explanation is that the geeks drink for flavor and the majority drink for refreshment. But there are many more complicated factors, including history, tradition, novelty, comfort, marketing and income.
My beer story goes back to my family of farmers and factory workers, and more specifically my father and grandfather, who were brewing beer in the basement long before Jimmy Carter signed the law that made it legal.
At home, they made and bottled ale, because it was their British heritage, not to mention relatively easy. But at Bugler’s Inn, they drank draft lager, delivered in globe-shaped glasses that looked like fish bowls, and sometimes bloomed with a shake of salt.
After all these years, the memories of my father still shape the way I think about beer, and answer why I so often crave the simple pleasures of a pint at a quiet, convivial pub.
I know my father, a no-nonsense, hardworking American, would be baffled by the behaviors of the beer geeks. I imagine him shaking his head at concoctions of coffee and chocolate and chile, then asking for a beer.
As usual, on July 4th, I’ll be drinking a lager in honor of the old man. Crisp and super refreshing, I think it’s the perfect beer style for summer and an easygoing match for backyard grilling, baseball or even the World Cup.
Fortunately, if you live in Atlanta, you can find lots of really flavorful craft-brewed American lagers now. They’re made without adjuncts, and use high-quality malt, hops and lager yeast.
Made with whole flower European hops and German malts, Victory Prima Pils may be the pinnacle of American craft brewing’s reclamation of lager beers. But look for these fine examples, too:
Anchor California Lager — A recent addition to the pioneering American brewery's portfolio is a recreation of a historic California beer of the 1860s that uses Cluster hops and two-row California barley. Available year-round in bottles and cans.
Left Hand Polestar Pilsner — This longtime favorite craft version of a German-style pilsner uses pilsner malt and American Magnum, Mt. Hood and Sterling hops to make a lager beer geeks can enjoy. Available year-round on draft and in six-packs.
Samuel Adams Noble Pils — An underrated gem among recent American lagers, this Bohemian-style pilsner gets its citrus character from five Noble hops: Hallertau Mittelfrueh, Tettnang Tettnanger, Spalt Spalter, Saaz and Hersbrucker. Available year-round in six-packs.
Sweetwater Take Two Pils — A new addition to the summer lineup is a take on a Bohemian-style pilsner with a combo of malts and American and European hops and is dry-hopped. Available on draft, in six-packs and the current Tackle box variety pack.
Three Taverns Pils Mundial — Brewed as a special summer beer in honor of the World Cup, this local Euro-style pilsner is dry-hopped with Falconer's Flight 7-C's. Find it on draft only, served in a limited edition pilsner glass, at Atlanta beer bars showing the World Cup.
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